CHEN_WANYU_PORTFOLIO_Jan_24_2023

WANYU CHEN

Wan-Yu Chen is a developing architect currently advancing her graduate studies as an M. Arch 2 student at Southern California Institute of Architecture. Wan-Yu sees her time at SCI-Arc as the ideal opportunity to develop her career both as a passionate individual that believes in the discipline of architecture while having the chance to influence the built environment.

Born in Taiwan, she earned her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Tamkang University. She received the IEAGD (International Exhibition of Architecture Graduation Design) for her thesis design. Before joining SCI-Arc, she worked as a Junior Architect in the firm’s design department for a Beijing-based architecture firm, TAO (Trace Architecture Office), and an architecture and landscape firm fa+p (fieldscape architects+planners) in Taipei.

ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS

2022 SPRING_2GBX Design Studio_Re: invention_Biotech Laboratory

RE: INVENTION

Biotech Laboratory

2022 SPRING 2GBX Design Studio

Instructor: Elena Manferdini

Partner: Jinxin Xu

Software: Rhino, Zbrush, Unreal Engine

2022 SPRING_2GBX Design Studio_Re: invention_Biotech Laboratory

RE: INVENSION biotech focuses on exploring the advanced biotechnology of Anti-aging and decay of human bodies. As a hub of biotechnology, the design redefines the conventional idea of how people approach laboratory spaces by incorporating nature and landscape into the building.

In the future, humanity will overcome most diseases. In return, more people are becoming immobile due to the aging and decay of their bodies. Human society is faced with the question of aging of organs and natural death. The Global Anti-Aging market report and forecast indicate the market's growing size due to consciousness among consumers regarding their physical appearance. Behind this are the advancements in technology and huge investments in research and development activities.

Climate change, health crisis, scarcity or excess of resources, luxury and poverty, technology and inventions, reinforce the idea that humans are part of a relational ecosystem with other beings, biospheres and environments. In our globalized and hyper-connected world, we are increasingly exposed to complex phenomena and an expanded network of representation. To understand them and to deal with them, we need to manage large quantities and qualities of data. This project investigate possible futures stemming from the current ecological and health challenges, and to expand the role of agency in our architectural creative process.

Design Approach: A.I. GAN Training

The initial ideas and concepts of the project came from A.I. GAN training. To align the possible futures that we imagine, jellyfish, prothesis, and tree barks have been chosen to undergo the A.I. GAN training. And the mixture images that have metallic shells with bulbing and glowing volumes were generated. These images of living and nonliving creatures were then used as the inspiration for the building form.

2022 SPRING_2GBX

Design Studio_Re: invention_Biotech Laboratory

2022 SPRING_2GBX Design Studio_Re: invention_Biotech Laboratory

Building Exterior

The mass of the building is generated from A.I. GAN training with images of jellyfish, trees, and prostheses for the inspiration of the organic form of architecture.

The bulbing volumes with metallic and transparent material are generated and replaced several major spaces of the originally rectangular mass of the building. They create specific qualities that varieties of programs require inside the building.

The pipes attached throughout the whole building connect all the spaces in the building. Collecting wastewater from laboratories, they form a water circulation system that purifies water and reuses them. The panels on the surface of bulbing volumes constantly are water purifiers. They change colors according to the status of water purification.

Closeup view: pipes and purifiers

The pipes attached throughout the whole building connect all the spaces in the building. The water purifiers change colors according to the status of water purification.

2022 SPRING_2GBX Design Studio_Re: invention_Biotech Laboratory

The design is specially composed of Jellyfish and Trees laboratories, theater, two major parliaments, and several circulations which connect them all. Each circulation gives people the freedom to explore the space inside the building. The bulbing volumes with metallic and transparent material

To let the public be involved, the main entrance of the building is located at the southwest corner of the building, which is more accessible to the public. The other one is a down digging space underneath the building, which leads to the forestry at the east that connects to the building. The forestry is part of the tree lab, which serves as the eco landscape. By breeding varieties of trees and vegetation, people can experience a natural forest

East-West section of the building. The section shows an entrance that connects to the neighboring, and major spaces such as parliament, jellyfish lab, tree lab, and

Design Studio_Re: invention_Biotech Laboratory

2022 SPRING_2GBX

9th Floor Plan

Cutting through parliatment spaces, theater, and Jellyfish labs.

11th Floor Plan

Cutting through the lightwell of parliatment and Jellyfish labs.

Axonometric Section B

North-South section of the building. The section shows an entrance connecting the tree lab and the jellyfish labs above it.

Parliament & Biotech

As the heart of the building, the parliaments are used for arranging seminars and summits between scientists and the public. The huge hollow spaces introduce the light into it and other spaces in the building. It is also the intersection of all the public circulation.

The Jellyfish lab locates at the upper levels of the building. Its primary research is to do cell research and genetic research of jellyfish. In

addition, there are also studies on the extraction of ingredients from various plants (seaweed, coral, bark) that can be used as health or nutritional supplements. Depending on the research project, the shape of the lab is different. Each laboratory has its breeding tank. Jellyfish with varying cycles of life were cultured in other laboratories and tanks.

Design Studio_Re: invention_Biotech Laboratory

2022 SPRING_2GBX

Parliament lightwell

The huge hollow spaces introduce the light into it and other spaces in the building. It is also the intersection of all the public circulation.

Parliament space

As the heart of the building, the parliaments are used for arranging seminars and summits between scientists and the public.

2022 SPRING_2GBX Design Studio_Re: invention_Biotech Laboratory

Tree Lab Forestry

The forestry is part of the tree lab, which serves as the eco landscape. By breeding varieties of trees and vegetation, people can experience a natural forest while circulating up to the inside of the building.

2022 SPRING_2GBX

Design Studio_Re: invention_Biotech Laboratory

The aquaculture water will be collected through the pipeline to the ecological pool outside the laboratory towards the forestry and to the underground to form an eco cycling. Filtered water will be reused for culturing trees and jellyfishes.

Tree Lab Walkway

Jellyfish Lab Tanks

Depending on the research project, the shape of the lab is different. Each laboratory has its breeding tank. Jellyfish with varying cycles of life were cultured in other laboratories and tanks.

2022 SPRING_2GBX Design Studio_Re: invention_Biotech Laboratory

DOC. RE: INVENTION

2022 FALL Design Development Integrated Design Project

Instructor: Herwig Baumgartner, Zach Burns / Consultant: Matthew Melnyk,

Partner:

This project investigates issues related to the implementation of design: technology, the use of materials, systems integration, and the archetypal analytical strategies of force, order and character. The project includes a review of basic and advanced construction methods, analysis of building codes, the design of Structural and Mechanical systems, Environmental systems, Buildings service systems, the development of building materials and the integration of building components and systems. The intent of this project is to develop a cohesive understanding of how architects communicate complex building systems for the built environment and to demonstrate the ability to document a comprehensive architectural project and Stewardship of the Environment based on the previous design project "RE: INVENTION" .

A series of built case studies will be presented by the instructors along with visiting professionals in the field who are exploring new project delivery methods. These case studies will be shown in-depth with construction photographs, 3D renderings, and technical drawings and details.

Jinxin Xu, Arjun Bharat, Diba Ghazia, Qingyang Zong, Xiao Jin, Alejandro Aguilera Sophie Pennetier, Jamey Lyzun

2022 FALL_Design Development Integrated Design Project_DOC. RE: INVENTION_Biotech Laboratory

2022 FALL_Design Development Integrated Design Project_DOC. RE: INVENTION_Biotech Laboratory

2021 FALL_2GAX Design Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

INTRINSICAL-NESS

Diamond Ranch Elementary School

2021 FALL 2GAX Design Studio

Instructor: Marcelyn Gow

Partner: Hao Wang, Suyue Jin

Software: Rhino, Cinema 4D, Maya, Redshift

Diamond Ranch High School was established in 1997-1999 to inject more vitality into the community and recruit more students. The studio centers on public education, especially elementary learning. And the project will be Diamond Ranch Arts and Sciences Elementary school. The notion of scalar change focuses on our design from small items at the scale of chairs to large-scale work on the context and site in the surrounding environment.

The reference of this method of close up and zoom out is the movie ‘The Powers of Ten’ created by Charles and Ray Eames in 1977. The intention is to work through scalar changes to navigate the project in all scales, understanding that interiority and exteriority are intermingled into a single narrative.

The pedagogical position of this project is to create small learning environments in the school where students reflect on the relationship between people and nature. From a functional point of view, holes of different sizes and walls of varying shape also introduce natural light into the rooms and allow for natural ventilation, which cools down the perennially hot building. The project reflects a belief that architecture should create a connection rather than a separation between people and nature.

Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

2021 FALL_2GAX Design Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

Stage1 floor plan with furniture embedded

To combine different chair models with the arid weather of the site and bring more vitality, low saturation colors were applied to chairs and space.

Stage 1: Design approach: Chairs

The design concept of the chair came from the Thonet chair. The chairs are curved and intrinsic with different pipe widths and deformed into various models, beginning from simple line work. Since chairs are for the elementary schools, more vitality is considered to be brought into the site. The chair design exaggerates some features derived from the Thonet chair and transforms the color palette.

Elementary School

FALL_2GAX Design Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

Classroom interior

Stage 2: Classroom

For the classroom scale, the architectural shape is designed and developed from the form and concept of the chair. A unified and clear architectural language can enhance people’s first impression of this school and improve the integrity and harmony of the design. A natural and organic design language throughout the entire process. With the meandering wall forms and the textures applied to them, the birch bark material creates natural terrain and plant growth qualities.

The classroom is the landscape, which blurs the boundary between architecture and nature, allowing natural elements to be introduced into the indoor spaces. This creates the possibility for sunlight, air, and plants in the natural environment to enter the indoor spaces.

Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

Classroom Diorama

To test the three-dimensional relationship between the furniture and classroom space in real life. A 30" x 30" diorama was made to present the classroom scenario. The furniture and the image of the classroom were printed on a scale of 1:10.

2021 FALL_2GAX Design Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

2021 FALL_2GAX Design

Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

2021 FALL_2GAX Design Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

Stage 3: Clusters

Different architectural shapes and coherent design language as a large template to create different microclimates nested into the form. The interlocking of classroom clusters defines a spatial sequence for students and teachers to discover various aspects of the architecture and the site over time. The linear wall elements create distinctions between the classroom clusters with our meandering circulation paths and other detailed techniques. The meandering circulation paths weave through them, tying the clusters together. This creates continuity and integrity of the space in the overall structure and the more detailed spatial design. The role of lines in the project shifts radically, producing twisted and woven walls and mesh-like roof structures. This creates an impression of lines becoming surfaces.

Interior space of the classroom

Natural texture and the weaving form of the classroom wall introduce green, natural ventilation, and sunlight into the classroom interior.

Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond

Ranch Elementary School

2021 FALL_2GAX Design Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

Behind the walls

Removing the classroom wall, we can see the introduction of nature and nature and the harmonious relationship between nature and people inside the classroom.

Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond

Ranch Elementary School

Stage 4: Into the site

Moving on from clusters of classrooms, in the scale of the landscape, community assembly, Sports stadium, and art center are taken into consideration and placed in the site with classroom clusters. The community center locates at the end of the main road of the existing middle school site for public people to access this site. As the building mainly serves students and faculty in the school, the art center and sports stadium locate the inner part of the site, which nears the sports

field. On top of this, the circulation from one building to another was placed created for people to circulate inside the site.

Drone view of the campus

Elevation of the campus

Variation of material and weaving form from ground level to the second floor creates the diversity of the visual and walking experience throughout the school.

The school buildings are distributed on the site and the circulation is created.

Design

Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond

Ranch Elementary School

2021 FALL_2GAX Design Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

The school buildings are distributed on the site and the circulation is created.

Drone views of the campus

Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond

Ranch Elementary School

Stage 5: School campus

The final scale is the site and the surrounding environment. Our site and building are quietly located between the land and the mountains, and the campus has a strong sculptural quality. The free and organic form also shapes the adaptable indoor space comprised of walls, floors, ceilings, flexible interiors, and the landscape of the campus. The design language of meandering, which is driven from the lines, creates an escalating landscape and zoning along with the existing site. These

forms allow teachers and students to roam, experience nature, and look at the sky and mountains at any time. They blur the boundary between architecture and nature.

Classroom

2021 FALL_2GAX Design Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

Classroom

Nature inside the classroom space

Design

Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

The high permeability of the wall allows vegetation to grow on it over time.

The trapezoidal desks and chairs with different colors support most scenarios of teaching. They give teachers and students possibilities of combination for the classroom space.

space for study and craft making space, furniture is placed in groups in order for students to each other face to face.

Classroom space for group discussion

Drone view of the overall campus

Ramps and stairs were created to form a consistent circulation from the existing middle school next to the campus and the ramp to the grassland surrounding it.

2021 FALL_2GAX Design Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

Fusion of the artificial and nature

Each classroom is placed inside the site and surrounded by different levels of the landscape and circulation. Teachers and students can experience nature in and out of each classroom building.

2021 FALL_2GAX Design

Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond

Ranch Elementary School

In addition to the landscape that escalates along with the site, the organic form of ramps that attach the walls form another form of landscape that allows people to climb up to the second floor.

2021 FALL_2GAX Design Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

2021 FALL_2GAX Design Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

2021 FALL_2GAX Design

Studio_Intrinsical-ness_Diacmond Ranch Elementary School

2022 FALL_3GAX

Vertical Studio_Ensphere_West

2nd Street Art Museum

ENSPHERE

West 2nd Street Art Museum

2022 FALL 3GAX Vertical Studio

Instructor: Jenny Wu

Partner: Yiyu Zhou

Software: Rhino, Cinema 4D, Redshift

Geometric primitives are the basic shapes we all know and recognize. They are simple three-dimensional forms such as cubes, spheres, cylinders, and cones. One of the fundamental powers of the primitive is the way our brain instantly recognizes its geometric character, even when the form is not perfectly defined.

In addition to its formal qualities, we have also been interested in articulating methods of assembly, specifically the operations necessary in connecting and attaching parts in place. We like to imagine that building elements, while sliding, rotating, clicking into place, may leave traces of its assembly onto the architecture itself.

The studio will begin by using Midjourney as an early exercise to test potential configurations and spatial consequences for a geometric primitive made with interlocking parts. The second half of the semester will situate the primitive in relation to the ground.

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

Midjourney / DALL.E 2 v.s. 3D Primitive Puzzle

In recent years, with the increasing development of AI computing power, AI's ability to process images has also improved. When a man's drawing created with Midjourney AI won an award at the Fine Arts Exhibition held at the Colorado State Fair, it caused an uproar not only in the art world, but also among the general public. It is undeniable that the use of AI will gradually become part of people's lives and affect the way creators create their work. AI can produce a series of solutions in a short period of time by interpreting textual narratives and deconstructing and sewing together material from databases. However, if we imagine a 3D spatial relationship based on the 2D images generated by AI, there is an ambiguity in the results generated by AI. This allow people to read the space and the 3D relationship in different ways. This ambiguity is why we should consider AI as a powerful aid to our design and exploration of volumes.

Our design uses two pictures obtained from midjourney and DALL.E 2 as the front and back hemispheres of the sphere puzzle. Using 3D modeling, we explore the relationship between the surface of the spheres and the volumes inside, such as how they connect and pull themselves together to form a sphere. In both midjourney and DALL.E 2 images, the depth and width of the gaps become the basis for cutting the spheres. We imagine the internal relationship of this sphere puzzle by disassembling the puzzle.

We use sequential disassembly to emphasize the narrative of a disassembly process and the spatial relationship between the connected parts of the different pieces. We imagine that this sphere is assembled by 9 pieces of different sizes, and in the process of disassembly, we can find that each piece overlaps and wraps around the previous parts that have not yet been disassembled. At the end of the disassembly, the core part is a key-like block that locks itself to the next piece. In terms of material selection for the solid model, we used clear resin as the core key material, and plated copper, nickel, and zinc for the other pieces.

Midjourney and DALL.E 2 generated result

Two pictures obtained from midjourney and DALL.E 2 are used as the reference for the front and back hemispheres of the sphere puzzle

9 pieces that construct the sphere and the base

Thw sphere is assembled by 9 pieces of different sizes, and in the process of disassembly, we can find that each piece overlaps and wraps around the previous parts that have not yet been disassembled

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

Vertical Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

Aerial view

The site of the building is located in the heart of downtown LA, in a nearby open space of The Broad. The site is on a slope with a huge height difference which is a continuous slope all the way up to The Broad. This open space is now used as a parking lot.

Based on the primitive puzzle that we have already developed, we want to discover the possibility of how the primitive puzzle can be the starting point for a building. By de-assembling the primitive into a new posture on a site, the spatial relationship within the sphere puzzle fundamentally disrupts the fit of the parts to its whole and opens up opportunities for the primitive to become architectural - addressing program, structure, spatial sequence and materiality.

The site of the building is located in the heart of downtown LA, in a nearby open space of The Broad. The site is on a slope with a huge

height difference which is a continuous slope all the way up to The Broad. This open space is now used as a parking lot.

As an art museum, we imagine the building and the surrounding landscape are not only an extension of the original museum space of The Broad but also a space that bridges and interlocks the space, people, and the neighborhood and allows them to flow inside. The sphere puzzle was de-assembled by a few moves, such as pulling out and adding pieces, scaling, and rotating before placing it on the site.

West 2nd Street Art Museum

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical

Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

Circulation

The building volumes are mainly divided into two halves placed on the base, they come from the process of decomposition and transformation of the sphere puzzle. The keys in the original plan still function as keys to the two large spatial assemblages in the architectural space. The two keys in the building are the main spaces for changing the flow of people. We tried to preserve the spatial relationship between the different blocks of the original plan in the process of transforming the plan into a building. The transformed building volumes are combined with the newly designed topography to create a gap for people to enter.

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical

Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

Aerial view from the east

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical

Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical Studio_Ensphere_West

2nd Street Art Museum

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical

Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

2022 FALL_3GAX Vertical Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

Studio_Ensphere_West 2nd Street Art Museum

LAYER UPON LAYER

Solar Carve + The King Fahad National Library

2021 FALL Advanced Materials and Tectonics

Instructor: Randy Jefferson, Dwayne Oyler

Partner: Sizhe Lu, Yiyu Zhou, Arjun Bharat

Software: Rhino

2021 FALL_Advanced Material and Tectonics_Layer upon Layer_Solar Carve + The King Fahad National Library

Precedent Research: Solar Carve - Studio Gang

Satus: Built 2019

Industries: Commercial Property Location:New York, NY

Floor: 12-Story Area: 117,530 SF

Client: Aurora Capital Associates

Architect: Studio Gang

Structural Engineer: ARUP

MEPS: Glickman Engineering Associates (GEA)

The overall tectonics of this building consists of a fully overlapped double-glazed glass façade. The North and the south edges have been deformed into a pixelated geometrical form. This geometry consists of a repeating module that consists of a folded five glass panel geometry. This module has a height of 16 feet that flushes over the entire span of a floor, and it is prefabricated and assembled on site. This geometry primarily consists of a central diamond-shaped panel supported by four smaller triangular panels and is angled in a manner that produces a sharply recessed façade, which is nestled into punctured floor slabs. The glass panels are supported with the help of internally recessed mulleins.

Solar Carve exterior facade

The facade of the building consists of 16 feet height modules.

Isometric

The Solar Carve building is connected to the highline.

Modules

Modules are prefabricated and then stacked on site.

ADAVANCED MATERIALS AND TECTONICS FINAL AS3200

Assignment 1 - Precedent Detail: Solar Carve-Studio Gang

Prefabricated

Prefabricated

Precedent Research: Solar Carve-Studio Gang

ADAVANCED MATERIALS AND TECTONICS FINAL AS3200

Assignment 1.2 - Applied secondary structure to original Solar Carve parimary structure

Overall building chunk and tectonic breakdown

ADAVANCED MATERIALS AND TECTONICS FINAL AS3200

Assignment 1.2 - Applied secondary structure to original Solar Carve parimary structure

Overall building chunk and tectonic breakdown

Primary Structure + Secondary Structure: Solar Carve + The King Fahad National Library

Primary Structure + Secondary Structure: Solar Carve + The King Fahad National Library

ADAVANCED MATERIALS AND TECTONICS AS3200

Group 14: Sizhe Lu / Yiyu Zhou / Wanyu-Chen / Arjun Bharat

ADAVANCED MATERIALS AND TECTONICS FINAL AS3200

Assignment 1.2 - Applied secondary structure to original Solar Carve parimary structure

2021 FALL_Advanced Material and Tectonics_Layer upon Layer_Solar Carve + The King Fahad National Library

06.

05.

01. 02. 03. 04.

05.

Membrane fabric facade connection 02. 03. 04.

PES Membrane Fabric

Prefabricated Unit Mullion Bracket Slotted Connection

Saddle Tension Cable Connector

Inner Saddle Tension Cable

Fabric Connector Cable Connector

Outer Tension Cable Cable Connector

Diamond Shape Glass Panel

ADAVANCED MATERIALS AND TECTONICS FINAL AS3200

2021 FALL_Advanced Material and Tectonics_Layer upon Layer_Solar Carve + The King Fahad National Library

ADAVANCED MATERIALS AND TECTONICS FINAL AS3200

Assignment 1.2 - Applied secondary structure to original Solar Carve parimary structure

Inner saddle tension cable connection detail

Primary Structure + Secondary Structure: Solar Carve + The King Fahad National Library

2019 Thesis Design_A Day of Defamiarizing_Neishi Transit Station

A DAY OF DEFAMILIARIZING

Neishi Transit Station

Thesis Design

Instructor: Chia-Ju Lin

In modern society, people's lives are restrained by families, friends, and work. People live monotony life subjects to time. People are used to finishing tasks quickly, fulfilling their free time, replying, and receiving information immediately. People nowadays often overlook the good things in life.

This project is a reflection of monotonous life under a fast-moving modern society. By integrating the feeling of speed and time elapsing people will perceive at different heights and distances on the horizontal site, the vertical tower form of the transit station will make people rethink the question, "How do we experience time?" and have an opportunity to get rid of the monotony of life.

As a container for change of external environmental, the architecture makes time perceivable. As time goes by, the atmosphere of the space will change the way we understand the space.

2019

Parallel tiles of speed

Time / Efficiency / The loneliest station

Station, a node of the transportation network, is a part of most people's life. People go to work, travel to other places from stations. Timetable in the station organizes not only train schedules but also the interval time people wait for trains to make stations operate quickly and efficiently. It is a combination of speed and efficiency.

Surrounded by the blue sea of Taiwan strait, endless mango field, and beautiful starry night of southern Taiwan, it seems to be a totally different feeling in Neishi station. Neishi station is in Pingdong, the south of Taiwan. Only one train will stop here every day. As a result, less than one person is getting on and off every day on average. Unlike other station, Neishi station seems to have nothing to do with time,

speed, and efficiency like any other station.

With the implementation of the Hengchun Sightseeing Railway Project, Neishi Station will become a transfer station for the railway, sightseeing train, and bus in 2024. It will be known as a transit point across Taiwan for passengers who want to go to Kenting.

This new transfer station proposal looks forward to provide people with opportunities to get rid of inertial life. People can get involved in the slow pace of Neishi and choose to experience travel and life in different ways while they are waiting for trains rather than ignoring the beautiful things around them when they pass by in a rush.

CREEK

Site photo

Design approach

Because of Hengchun Sightseeing Railway Project, the volume of the station building will become much more significant than now anyway. Making the station building taller instead allows the building to become be a vertical container that integrates different kinds of speed on the field. A taller tower could also create a dialogue with the platform. The passengers’ feeling of various distances and different heights to the building could provoke passengers’ curiosity about the tower and the external environment during the transfer. Besides, it creates opportunities for passengers to get out of monotonous life.

The concept of the tower can be described in the drawing below. The triangles are the platforms of three different transportation systems, and the thick dotted line is the primary path for people to transfer from the platform to the tower. In addition to the primary path, there are trails where people can explore the site next to each platform. Both roads allow people to reach the transfer tower, and the passenger can take either one as their will. The tower is divided into two parts. The outer part is the space for exploring the natural scenery of the site, and the inner part is the hall of the transfer station, connecting platforms.

Perception of speed

P1: Windows at different heights show a different sense of speed.

P2: Layers of speed intersected by people’s perspectives of view.

P3: Tall volume creates ample opportunities for light in different angles.

Concept of the tower

The outer part is the space for exploring the natural scenery of the site, and the inner part is the hall of the transfer station, connecting platforms.

attraction tranportation system main path to the tower

2019 Thesis Design_A Day of Defamiarizing_Neishi Transit Station

H24/Capsule Hotel

Lying in the capsule, people see the sea and the stars in a distance. After a day of travel, it is time to say goodnight. Goodnight Neishi!

Walking through the narrow corridor, there is the endless sea.This is a space for a person and the sea. The height of the tower has brought people closer to the sea.The slow slap of the sea is like the silent poem.

M120/Time-lapse Swimming Pool

People's perception of time becomes unclear as the height goes higher. However, the glass pool that extends out of the wall allows people to look back at busy traffic systems that operate orderly.

M120/Sunset Mango Shaved Ice Shop

The two-hour procedure of sunset is the most recognizable time-change period of the day Facing the direction of sunset, mango shaved ice shop is the last destination for travelers who are not going to check-in in the capsule hotel Eating a bowl of shaved ice along with the scenery of sunset slowly falling into the beautiful Taiwan Strait is such an enjoyment.

T1230/Auditorium

The residents of the Neishi go to church from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm every Sunday The light effect in the chapel changes when time goes by. The direct light at 12:30 will light up the stage that the priests and performers stand on and magnified people’s perception of lapse of time.

Platforms/Waiting Room

The platform and the transport level are the intros to the transfer tower The form of tower is in sharp contrast to the flat base, making people curious about the tower and the external environment.

The transparent hydraulic elevator from the bottom all along to the top of the towers allows passengers to view the spaces and activities in the tower. While the elevator rises, the distance between the passenger and the sky is getting closer. In the closed volume, the elevator serves as a light well which produces different light effects in the tower while people are using the elevator.

Station Tower

The new design of Neishi transit station redefines spaces on people's path up to the top of the tower with a specific code; T stands for timing, M for minutes, and H for hours. Different codes represent specific moments or durations in which people experience these spatial experiences caused by light, sound, and the speed of the external environment. With these experience, people will feel different ways that time flies during climbing and begin a dialogue with the external environment around them.

2019 Thesis Design_A Day of Defamiarizing_Neishi Transit Station

Scenarios

The implementation of the transfer station while brings tourists to the Neishi, also destroys the originally slow and lonely pace. When society continues to develop, people become numb under the chase of time. In a fast-moving life, people gradually forget “How do we experience time?”

The new design of the transfer station proposes the possibility of redefining programs with time for the reconstruction of the station. The transfer station integrates speeds people would perceive at different heights and distances on the site with the form of a tower. The tower consists of the space with programs that intersect into a path to the top. People would slowly establish a dialogue with the external environment and time to extend people’s perception of time and speed as they climb up through space and activities (auditorium, seaview library, swimming pool, mango shaved ice shop, and capsule hotels).

Thesis Design_A Day of Defamiarizing_Neishi Transit Station

2020 Professional Work_Jiangdon Huandao Experimental School_Kindergarten

JIANGDONG HUANDAO EXPERIMENTAL SCHOOL KINDERGARTEN

Trace Architecture Office

2020 Professional Work Position: Assistant Architect

Contribution: later stage of project(interior, drawings, 3D modeling)

Located in Haikou, Hainan, China, the campus includes primary school, kindergarten and dormitory buildings, with a total floor area of 64,700 square meters. This is TAO's second educational project in Haikou, which is another creative practice of exploring links between education and architecture with respect of local context.

The site is located in Jiangdong New District, east coast area of Haikou. The design regards the campus as a miniature garden city, responding to the surrounding environment in an organic form. The building integrates with the surrounding countryside area, green space, river, wetland and ocean, being part of a unified whole.

Meanwhile, the free curves, vivid colors and poetic spaces, which echo the unique childlike innocence and playfulness, are aimed to evoke children’s imagination and creativity, making students a unique school experience.

Kindergarten

The kindergarten design creates a looped circulation, providing a platform for children to run. Continuous ramps connect different elevations, and the roof becomes an extension of the ground. The middle layer is elevated to release more semi-outdoor activity space for shade and rain, and at the same time, it is a positive response to Hainan's tropical climate. Children can run from the ground to the sky, from indoor to outdoor, and grow up free.

2020 Professional Work_Jiangdon Huandao Experimental School_Kindergarten

2020 Professional Work_Jiangdon Huandao Experimental School_Kindergarten

OTHER WORKS / RENDERING

WIND INDIGO DYE

1:1 Interactive installation

2018 Micro Architecture

Instructor: Hwai-Wen Chang

Partner: Yu-Chuan Hsu, Hao-Jui Peng, Cheng-Wei Wu

The wind is an invisible presence. It always seems to be around. But it has a far relationship between our culture and life.

Blue dye is an old Hakka art that has gradually disappeared. The timeconsuming and complex but elegant dyeing methods are becoming less known...

Hsinchu city is the settlement cluster of Hakka culture, and it is also a windy city that blows strong winds because of its special landscape. This project is to build a micro-architecture that has such special humanities with natural factors and revives blue dye with the wind.

Exploded view

Wind indigo dye

Wind Indigo Dye is an architecture that can capture the shape of the wind. The wind is an unlimited resource and the memory of the people who live in Hsinchu. We hope that people could have brand new learning of the Hakka culture by dyeing their own Wind Indigo Dye. The analysis shows that the wind in Hsinchu is constantly blowing in different directions, especially from the North-East. To access the wind from different directions, the microarchitecture should be designed into a radial form. To make the invisible wind into a physical movement, we made a wind panel as a unit to study how to perform wind’s action. The diagram shows that the wind panel unit, which drives the movement of the drip tube, makes the dripping of dye turn into different patterns due to the different wind force.

The drawing shows components that composed the installation.

Timelapse Link

LIGHT AND HANDRAIL

2022 FALL Elective Course

Instructor:

Dwayne Oyler

Partner: Yiyu Zhou, Amin Marandi

As the site of our project, Casa Barragan uses flat planes and light, both natural and artificial as its most prominent aspects of the design. The skylights and windows allow for visual tracking of light throughout the day.

Upon entering, the visitor walks down a dark hallway until they suddenly encounter a pink wall, the first engagement with the known style of Barragan. The concrete texture of the wall gives the room a solid feeling and shows the contrast between the natural light and shadow. The handrail is not originally designed in this room to preserve the concept of visual tracking of light and consistency.

To not ruin the atmosphere of this room, the safety of the people who live in this house was sacrificed. We wanted to ensure the safety of the users in the space while maintaining the original atmosphere and transparency of the space. We want to design a lightweight handrail or staircase.

Poetic Detail

This handrail is developed in detail by the experience of holding it in the hand. The handrail, as a container of light, is composed of three materials: resin, metal and wood, exploring the interaction between material properties, time and light. The handrail is made of a curved metal plate as the main structure. The transparent texture of the resin introduces light into the handrail, allowing it to travel between the wall and the handrail. When placing the hand on the handrail, one can feel the interplay of natural light, light refracted by the resin, and light reflected by the metal on the back of the hand at different times.

Instructor: Dwayne Oyler (do@oylerwu.com)

Teaching Assistant: Peihao (William) Jin (peihao_jin@sciarc.edu)

Slide in the resin to the wall with the metal piece embedded.

Slide in the decorative wood cover to cover the connection part.

Put on the 1/8" bended metal sheet on top of the resin.

Screw in the screws into wooden handrail to connect metal piece and resin.

2022 SPRING_Elective Course_Lazy Chairs_Instructional Construct

LAZY CHAIRS

Instructional Construct

2022 SPRING Elective Course

Instructor: Jenny Wu

Partner: Yiyu Zhou, Zeyu Wang

Software: Rhino, Blender, Unreal Engine

As a form of communication, drawing is an effective tool to elaborate and visualize thoughts from scratches in people's minds. By studying existing furniture masterpieces and transforming them into different pieces of work, this project presents a new furniture piece that employs drawings and animation in logical thinking and narrative.

This project trains the students' to harness realistic texture, light effect, and tectonic concept of furniture in modeling software ends and rendering engines.

2022 SPRING_Elective Course_Lazy Chairs_Instructional Construct

Copywrong

Alexander Chapman an exploded anoxometric drawing of a building which also displays the relationship between different parts of the building with sequence

Copywrong Alexander Chapman an exploded anoxometric drawing of a building which also displays the relationship between different parts of the building with sequence

Precedent Study

By choosing a set of precedents for drawing style and furniture, we studied and understood how all the components come together in real life and how they could be displayed in drawings in sequential order

The precedents for drawings mainly were chosen from assembling manual or exploded view detail drawings or diagrams. On the other hand, we have classic pieces such as 044 Kobi Pad, Envelope Chair, Armchair rocker, and Avi for the furniture choice.

The furniture presidents were then deformed and combined and then became a new piece of furniture for later stage's drawing.

Precedent drawings and renderings

Precendents drawings and renderings were collected for study.

Iteration_02

exploded

Iteration rendering

front view

perspective top view right view

Zeyu Wang / Yiyu Zhou / Wanyu Chen

Furniture assembly manual drawing

The final furniture assembly manual drawing was in a vertical layout to showcase each assembly step sequentially. At the bottom, it's a set of small diagrams to show what it would look like after completing the assembly of the specific phase, such as the chair legs frame, seat frame, and cushion holder. On top of that, there are close-up drawings next to each step to expand more information on assembly. Different colors of the hatch highlight the vital detail. The more significant texts and sound effects were added to remind readers as well.

2022 SPRING_Elective Course_Lazy Chairs_Instructional Construct

Assembly Animation

The assembly Animation was made with Blender. The animation was composed of clips taken from different angles and different scale of view of the chair to showcase the overall view of chair and close-up detail of asseblage. We have a velvet texture covering all over the chair, and the metal frame weld the main structure together so that the chair can support the weight itself and the person who sits on it. Chair legs are made of wood. Every major part was designed to be easy to assemble by bolts.

Chair legs Close-up View

2022 SPRING_Elective Course_Lazy Chairs_Instructional Construct

SPRING_Elective Course_Lazy Chairs_Instructional Construct

Close-up view of the metal frame part on the top of the chair

2021 FALL_Visual Study_Omen_Terraform

OMEN

Terraform

2021 FALL 2GAX Visual Study

Instructor: Kumaran Parthiban Partner: Yiyu Zhou

Software: Cinema 4D, Redshift, Zbrush, Octane, Adobe Suite

Omen is an occurrence or phenomenon believed to portend a future event. In 2079, outer space travel is already mature, and humans are dedicated to exploring unknown planets and alien civilizations. The animation is a story of a future unexpected encounter in which a human being discovers a strange manlike alien.

This project explores a small part of world-building and environmental design with terraforming, a hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography. This project emphasizes the visual narration to the audience in the format of animation.

2021 FALL_Visual Study_Omen_Terraform

Design story

In 2079, outer space travel is already mature, and humans are dedicated to exploring unknown planets and alien civilizations. Space Rager is a new occupation as the frontiers of human civilization to explore and recond the boundless universe. While exploring the distant coordinate universe, the Space Ranger discovered a gradually decomposing planet. The flake rock mass turned into dust that filled the planet’s surroundings, and the earth itself formed a hollow topography. A sleeping giant slept peacefully inside. There were technologies unknown to humankind on the planet itself, which held the air and nutrients needed by the giants. The ground grew overgrown with grass, covering the giant’s body as soft as a carpet over time. The discovery of this humanoid species may reveal an ancient and unknown civilization related to humans.

Previous stage of the setting up the scenes. Litting up the scene with neon light effect to create a the outer space vibe.

Components

Final Rendering

2021 FALL_Visual Study_Omen_Terraform

2021 FALL_Visual Study_Omen_Terraform

Rendering from the inside of the planet

The flake rock mass turned into dust that filled the planet’s surroundings, and the earth itself formed a hollow topography. A sleeping giant slept peacefully inside.

2021 FALL_Visual Study_Luster_Overlaid

LUSTER

Overlaid

2021 FALL 2GAX Visual Study

Instructor: Kumaran Parthiban

Partner: Yiyu Zhou

Software: Adobe Suite

This project mainly looks at post-production and compositing, by layering, filtering, and multiplying opacities within materials, this project created a different aesthetics and idea of narrative from the previous animation by layering and multiplying opacities within materials.

In this project, the composition materials are majoring from the clips created from the previous project, 'Omen,' to explore different possibilities that bring from rendering and after-effects. This project aims to create a vibe of uncanny lucid dreams and a different narrative to the same story.

Design progress

During the design progress, clips from the last animation were layered in a different mode in Adobe After Effect to try out the result. The major effects used in this project are wave wrap, Saber, CC scattering, and colorize.

2021 FALL_Visual Study_Luster_Overlaid

Final animation

The final overlaid animation was composed after adjusting the coherence of colors and the background music. The final overlaid animation aims to create a vibe of uncanny and mystery.

2021 FALL_Visual Study_Luster_Overlaid

Animation Link

2021 FALL_Visual Study_Luster_Overlaid

WANYU CHEN 2018 - 2023 SELECTED WORKS